Fix Valorant Stuck on Loading Screen - Step-by-Step Guide

If Valorant is hanging on the loading screen and refuses to pull you into a match, your connection, a background service, or corrupted game files are likely the culprit. Most of the time, this happens because the Vanguard anti-cheat service failed to initialize or the Riot client is struggling to communicate through your firewall.

Why this happens

This usually occurs when the VGC service responsible for Vanguard is disabled, or when a firewall or VPN is blocking the client from verifying game assets.

Steps

1. 01
   Check the Riot Games status page at status.riotgames.com for your region to ensure there isn't a server-side outage preventing the game from loading.
2. 02
   Right-click the Riot icon in your system tray and select Exit, then restart your PC to refresh the Riot Client processes.
3. 03
   Turn off any active VPN or proxy connections and ensure 'Valorant.exe', 'RiotClientServices.exe', and 'vgc.exe' are allowed through your Windows Firewall.
4. 04
   Navigate to C:/Riot Games/VALORANT/live, right-click 'VALORANT.exe', go to Properties, and under the Compatibility tab, check 'Disable fullscreen optimizations' and 'Run this program as an administrator'.
5. 05
   Press Windows Key + R, type 'services.msc', and press Enter. Locate 'vgc', double-click it, set the Startup type to 'Automatic', click 'Start', then hit Apply.
6. 06
   Open the Riot Client, click your profile icon, select Settings, click 'VALORANT' in the list, and click 'Start Repair' to fix any corrupted files.
7. 07
   If the issue persists, search for 'Add or remove programs' in Windows, find 'VALORANT', click the three dots, select 'Uninstall', and download a fresh copy from the official Riot Games website.

Still not working?

If you are still stuck after a fresh reinstall, check your Event Viewer under Windows Logs/System for errors related to 'vgc' or 'Vanguard'. Frequent crashes often point to a conflict with third-party security software or a failing hard drive where the game is installed.

Frequently asked questions

Will I lose my game progress if I uninstall and reinstall?

No, your Valorant account data, skins, and stats are stored on Riot's servers, not your local machine.

Is it safe to run VGC as Automatic?

Yes, 'vgc' must be set to Automatic for Vanguard to initialize properly; without it, Valorant will consistently fail to launch.